But if You Must
by CasiNight
Summary: "Never lie, steal, cheat, or drink. But if you must lie, lie in the arms of the one you love. If you must steal, steal away from bad company. If you must cheat, cheat death. And if you must drink, drink in the moments that take your breath away." -Hitch A series of one shots revolving around Steve and Danny based on this quote. NOT SLASH. BROMANCE. Danny whump.
1. Lie

**Hello everyone! Sorry about not updating _Lean on Me_ in awhile. To tell you the truth, I'm having a little bit of writers block, so when I thought of this, I decided to write it to try and heal myself. Again, sorry, but please be patient. I will try and update as soon as I can get a hold of my thought again.**

**Anyways, my boss said this quote and I immediately thought about this, so, here's the quote:**

**"Never lie, steal, cheat, or drink. But if you must lie, lie in the arms of the one you love. If you must steal, steal away from bad company. If you must cheat, cheat death. And if you must drink, drink in the moments that take your breath away."**

**After some research, I learned that this was from the movie Hitch(?). If I'm wrong, someone please tell me. **

**Moving on, I'm going to write a series of one shots for that quote. HERE'S THE FIRST ONE!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hawaii Five-O.**

**Onto the story! ENJOY!**

* * *

Danny realized that someone was holding him and it took him a moment to realize just who it was. Anyone else, and he would've pulled away. But it was ok. It was his brother.

Now of course, it wasn't his blood brother. That metaphorical ship of relationships sailed long ago. No, this was his brother in bond. The man that he trusted with his life every day and would trust with something even more precious than that: his daughter.

Prying his eyes open, he didn't have to strength to look up, simply staring forward as his teeth chattered and he attempted to speak. "St-ve."

Steve looked down at the weight in his arms, continuing to move his hands up and down his partner's arms, creating some friction to warm him up. "Yeah! Hey, Danno. I'm right here buddy. I'm right here." Frankly, the Navy SEAL was amazed that Danny was even able to open his eyes at this moment. He had run into the freezer not 10 minutes ago and found Danny bound and gagged on the floor. He had quickly carried him outside, had Kono call the ambulance and untied him in the time afterward.

Danny smiled, a violent shiver wracking his frame. He felt the warmth of his partner and tucked himself closer, glad when he felt Steve's arms tighten around him.

"Shh, Danno. Shh. It's ok. Just relax. I got ya. I got ya. You're gonna be alright." Steve said, pulling his partner closer to his chest and keeping up the comforting mantra for the time it took for the ambulance to arrive. Even when the paramedics did come, Steve was still glued to Danny's side. When the paramedics loaded Danny into the ambulance, Steve climbed in too, ignoring the annoyed glances he received from the EMTs.

Danny's eyes opened and he looked up at his partner sitting next to him as the ambulance started out. He didn't have the strength to speak, simply smiling when Steve looked down at him. "Hey, buddy. Just relax, ok? They're going to get you warmed up at the hospital and then you'll see Gracie, sound good?" Steve grabbed Danny's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I'm not going anywhere, buddy. I'm right here."

Danny's smile never left his face as his eyes drifted closed again and he fell into the realm of unconsciousness.

* * *

Steve sat in his chair, staring at the wall as his thoughts ran over what had happened the day before. They'd been working on a breaking a smuggling ring and had gone to question some suspects at a food storage warehouse. Turns out, the suspects were the smugglers and after a brief altercation, they'd been arrested. But Danny had been nowhere to be seen. Steve had tried his phone but it went straight to voicemail. Steve could remember being shocked because they had even waited for backup this time and he knew that Danny was always on him about waiting for backup.

Getting back on track, Steve remembered calling Chin and asking him to trace Danny's phone, but there was no trace, meaning the phone was either broken or off. That's when he started to get panicked. Danny's car was still there, not that he would leave in the middle of a firefight or leave at all without telling Steve, and he had seen him a couple times during the first few shots.

Steve admitted to himself, he may have gotten a little rough with the two prisoners, but Danny had been missing for about two hours now, and they still didn't have any clues. So after "asking" them, he had Danny's location: a freezer. He didn't think that he'd ever ran that fast in his life. He went straight there, telling Chin and Kono, who had come to help in the search, that he had found him and to send an ambulance. After he got the freezer, one of the scariest moments in his life happened.

_Steve came to the door and yanked the bolt out of the handle, pulling it open in a mist of cold air. His eyes fell upon the figure on the floor and he lept to the downed man's side. "Danny? Danny, can you hear me?" _

_No response._

_He slid his arms behind Danny's back and under his knees, lifting his partner easily and carrying him outside. A policeman had brought him a blanket and he set Danny on the ground, tucking the blanket around his brothers shivering form and rubbing his hands up and down Danny's arms. _

_Danny began to come around slightly and opened his eyes, looking forward as he couldn't look up. "St-ve."_

"Steve? You ok, babe?"

Steve came back in a rush and he looked at the bed in front of him. Danny was laying on his back, head flopped to the side as he looked at his partner. "Danny? Hey, buddy. Yeah, I'm fine. How ya feelin'?"

"Tired." Danny said, relaxing into the pillows now that he knew that Steve was ok."What happened?"

Steve slouched in his chair, arms across his chest. "Honestly, Danno? I've got no idea. You disappeared sometime during the gunfight. All I know is that I found you half frozen to death in a freezer."

Danny's eyes wandered. "Oh."

Silence, albeit comfortable, stretched between them before Steve looked up from his gaze on the floor to his partner. "Hey, Danno?"

Danny nodded, meeting Steve's gaze. "Yeah, Steve?"

Steve sat up, yawned, and leaned forward, placing his arms on the side of Danny's bed and resting his head on them. "Promise me you'll never do that to me again."

A soft snore erupted from the sleeping SEAL as Danny smiled and curled onto his side, facing his partner. Closing his eyes, he breathed out, "I promise," before he joined his partner in a peaceful slumber . . .

Little did they know that Chin and Kono were 'aww'ing and snapping photos outside.

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**How was it? I will try to update both this story and _Lean on Me_ soon. Again, thank you for your patience. I'm just asking for a little bit more. :) I hope that this little one shot has been enough to sustain you.**

**See y'all later! **


	2. Steal

**Hey guys. Sorry, still having some problems with my other story, but I found that I had already half-way written this and decided to finish it. I hope it turned out ok!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hawaii Five-O or its characters because there's a list of things that I would changed. **

**If you don't remember the quote, here's the part for this chapter. "Steal away from bad company."**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Danny looked up from his place on the floor, a cold metal pole digging into his back. He would've left ages ago except for the fact that his hands were tied behind his back with a zip tie, and, frankly, he was getting pretty annoyed with his situation. Even when Steve's not around, I still manage to get in trouble. I must be hanging out with him too much. Trouble must associate me with Steve.

Twisting his hands for the millionth time, Danny felt his zip tie begin to crack and smiled, immediately dropping it and his movements as a thug walked by. The thug stopped and looked at him. "What'ch you smiling at, pig?"

Danny smiled smugly. "Just the mental image of all of you behind bars." The response was immediate and expected. A fist came down and collided with the side of his face, adding another cut to his already bleeding lip and swelling cheekbone.

Danny watched and waited for the thug to walk away and then resumed his twisting, the triumphant smile returning as it continued to crack. Finally, it snapped, providing him with freedom, but he remained where he was, waiting for precisely the right moment.

The same thug walked by him again and sneered at him, but didn't stop. This provided Danny with the opportunity that he needed, allowing him to leap out the second story window across from him. It probably would've ended worse except for the fact that he rolled with his landing, something that he may or may not have learned from Steve. And would never admit even under the threat of torture. I would never live it down.

Springing to his feet, he ran as fast as he could, not really thinking of where he was going, just going to the place that he knew he would be safest.

It took him awhile and he knew that he would be feeling the pain of that much running in the morning, but he finally made it. It had started raining sometime during his escape and the water ran down off his hair and into his eyes, but he didn't care. A shiver ran through him as the water soaked down into his bones, but, again, he didn't care. The sight in front of him made everything so much better, even as he stood, panting, on the door step. His hand reached out and hovered over the door bell, but he decided against it. It was pretty late and he didn't want to wake him, so Danny decided to simply walk in.

He quietly opened the door and closed it, making it about five steps into the room before a voice from the stairwell halted him in his tracks. "Freeze. I'm armed. Who are you and what do you want?"

The normal person would've probably been scared out of their mind right about now, but Danny was too tired and too wet to be scared. "Do you have super human hearing too?"

A light turned on and Danny squinted his eyes against it, raising a hand to try and cover it.

"Danny?" Steve said, bolting down the stairs. He put the gun on the end table and squared his partner's shoulders to look at him, taking in the swollen cheek, bleeding lip, and bruised forehead. Looking his partner up and down, he also saw the way that Danny avoided standing on his bad knee, how his clothes were soaking and he was shaking beneath Steve's hands, and, the most gruesome clue, how his wrists were chaffed and bleeding. "Danno? What happened?"

"Umm," Danny said, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck, "I'd be happy to tell you, but I was wondering if you, umm, had any clothes I could borrow. Mine are kinda wet."

Steve nodded, his face still filled with concern. "Sure, Danny." Leading him upstairs to his room, he searched through his drawers until he eventually found a drawer with a pair of sweatpants that would fit, they had to be a tad shorter, and a plain light blue t-shirt.

Danny smiled and nodded his thanks, disappearing into the bathroom several moments later. Steve leaned against the wall and waited, arms crossed and brow furrowed as he worried about his partner. Something had happened and Steve wanted to know what. Finally, Danny emerged, looking much drier, happier, and all around better.

Steve smiled, "Better?"

Danny nodded. "Yeah. Thanks." Danny headed downstairs while Steve grabbed the first aid kit out of his bathroom and followed, cornering Danny in the kitchen.

Gesturing towards the table, he said, "Sit down, Danny."

Danny saw the first aid kit and sighed. "Steve, really, I'm fine-."

"You're fine when I say you're fine, now sit . . . Please, Danny. Sit down." Steve had realized how harsh he sounded when speaking and didn't want to sound harsh. He wanted to sound WORRIED, not angry, but, occasionally, the two came out as the same.

Danny accepted defeat and sat down at the table and Steve sat next to him, turning his chair so that he was facing Danny with only about a foot between their knees. Opening the first aid kit, he gestured towards Danny's hands. "Give me your hands."

Danny obeyed and gave Steve his hands. Steve took them and held them gently, looking at the bloody chafing. Setting them down on the table, he reached for the antibacterial cream and asked, "What caused this?"

"Zip ties," Danny answered honestly.

Gently smoothing some of the white liquid on Danny's wrists, he looked at his partner and asked, "What the hell happened, Danno?"

Danny took a deep breath and started to speak. "I was driving home when I saw a fight on the side of the road. I stopped to break it up, but someone hit me over the back of the head. When I woke up, I was zip tied to a pole. I managed to escape and came here."

Steve smiled. "You should've called in backup before going in there."

"Haha, very funny, Steven." Danny winced as Steve went over a particularly sensitive spot.

"Sorry, sorry." Steve said, pausing for a moment before grabbing the bandage wrap and evenly wrapping Danny's wrist. After he finished, he looked at his brother's face and grabbed his chin, moving it to the side so that he could see the extensive bruising. "Did they do this, or did you run into a wall?" He already knew the answer, but the conversation seemed to help steady his partner.

"It's nothing, just some bruises. They got little rough," Danny said, trying to pull away, only to have Steve put a hand on the back of his neck to keep him where he was.

"It's not nothing," Steve said, weakening his grip on Danny's face before freezing and looking back at his brother. "Are you gonna stay still and let me treat this or are you going to make me tie you to the chair?"

Danny winced, glancing down at his wrists where the zip tie damage was hidden by the white gauze. Steve winced too, realizing what he had just said. "Sorry, Danno. I didn't mean-."

"No, it's ok," Danny said, taking a deep breath and letting it out. His shoulders rose and fell as he did and Steve watched some of the tension leave his partners body. "It's just . . . We aren't on a case, so I knew that if I disappeared, you would have no clues as to where I was . . ."

Steve realized at that instant what Danny was trying to say. It wrenched at his heart and brought tears to his eyes. Leaning over the small distance between them, he engulfed Danny in a hug, fighting to keep the tears at bay as Danny returned the hug, clutching at him like a life line. "I would always find you, Danny. Even if I had to go to hell and back."

After a few more seconds, they broke apart and Danny allowed Steve to treat the cuts on his face. After that, Steve helped Danny get settled on the couch and brought him an icepack for his bad knee. Danny was asleep within minutes.

Steve snuck back upstairs and got dressed before heading back downstairs. Quietly picking up Danny's keys, he checked on his sleeping partner and crept out of the house. He had a tracking up on his phone with the Camaro's GPS signal plugged in, courtesy of Kono, and he followed it on foot. It wasn't far away and Steve felt in the mood for a walk. Also, if he drove, how was he supposed to get both cars home. Danny would kill him if he even tried to tow his car.

After finding the Camaro, he drove back to his house, pleased to see upon entering that Danny was still fast asleep . . . or so he thought.

"Hey, Steve?"

Steve turned to face the origin of the voice and smiled. The words had come out muffled sounding, and that made sense, seeing as how Danny's face was smashed into a pillow. "Yeah, buddy?"

" . . . Thanks."

Steve knew that his partner was already asleep again. Grabbing the blanket off the back of the couch, he layed it gently over his partner and crouched down in front, so his face was about even with where Danny's would be if he could see it. "Anytime, Danno. Anytime."

Dragging himself back up to bed, Steve fell asleep smiling, happy with the idea that his brother was safe . . .

and with the idea of what he would do with the men who hurt him tomorrow.

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**How was it? I hope it was ok! Please tell me with a review. I'm really trying to get my other muse back. Thanks for all the patience. See ya!**


	3. Cheat

**Hey guys! Sorry for the long time with this story! I realized with one of my reviews for _The Most Dangerous Game_ that I hadn't updated in quiet awhile. So a big thanks to HonoluluGal! Thanks for the reminder!**

**Anyways, here's chapter 3. I hope everyone likes it. I certainly enjoyed writing it. I'm sorry, but there isn't a whole lot of whump in this chapter, but if you read my other current story, the next chapter for that one will make up for the loss. **

**Anyways, here's chapter 3!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hawaii Five O or Hitch (the movie from which the quote was taken).**

**ENJOY!**

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Danny looked down at the bomb on the floor in front of him, hands hovering, not knowing what to do. Bomb disposal was not his thing. Looking down at the timer, he saw it counting down from 10 and he pulled out his phone, dialing Steve and searching for someplace to go. A small niche in the far corner away from the bomb looked promising, so he picked up the wooden crate stacker next to him and ran, putting his phone to the side of his face as he ran and it rang.

"Hey, Danno, what's-."

"Steve! Don't come in here! Don't come in-." He dove into the corner just in time for the bomb to detonate and the rest of his sentence to be drowned out.

* * *

Steve walked towards the warehouse that Danny was supposed to be clearing, talking animatedly to Kono and Chin. Their information had been bad apparently, because they had found nothing at their warehouses. Danny was supposed to call if he found anything, but he hadn't so-

Steve's phone rang in his pocket and he pulled it out, seeing Danny's number pop up on the screen. _Maybe I spoke too soon. _Answering it, he said, "Hey, Danno, what's-." The rest of what he was about to ask was interrupted by his frantic partner.

"Steve! Don't come in here! Don't come in-." The warehouse blew, shards of wood and concrete shooting into the sky and Kono, Chin and Steve fell back a step, trading glances as Steve realised the phone was still in his hand. "Danny! Danny, can you hear me!"

Before Chin and Kono knew what was happening, Steve was running towards the fiery remains, kicking down the smoldering door and entering the inferno. Chin followed and Kono dialed an ambulance and a firetruck.

* * *

Steve dove through the remains of the door and held his hand up against the heat. He could see the remains of the bomb in the corner, and suddenly Danny's message made sense. _I swear, if he's dead . . ._ Steve didn't let himself finish that thought, because Danny couldn't be dead. He wasn't allowed to be dead. _Take care of Gracie for me, _Danny's voice said, Steve's own personal Danny-voiced-conscience in his mind. "Sorry, but that's your job, pal."

"Danny! Danny!" Steve called, searching through the flames to find his brother. He was quickly losing hope when movement in the corner pulled his attention. Running over to the moving pile of rubble, he began to pull pieces off, ignoring the heat that scorched his hands, and called, "Danny! Danny, are you in there?! Danny!"

A weak voiced, "Steve," came up from a wooden crate stacker and he pulled it away, seeing a blacked and beaten Danny beneath.

The roof creaked and Steve grabbed Danny's arm, pulling him towards the exit. They were both coughing heavily as the smoke filled their lungs and through teary eyes, Steve saw the door come closer. With one final push of adrenaline, he pulled himself and his partner through the door and into the blinding sunlight.

Paramedics swarmed and separated them, ignoring Steve and Danny's pleas to see each other. After 5 grueling minutes on oxygen, he couldn't take it anymore and snuck away when the paramedics back was turned. He wound his way through the crowd of firefighters, HPD, and businessmen that the warehouse belonged to. He found his partner seated on the back of an ambulance and walked over, standing in front of him.

Danny saw the look in his partners eyes and pushed the oxygen tank away, standing, with a bit of a sway, and looked up at his partner.

Steve looked livid, arms crossed over his chest and his eyes dark and dangerous.

Danny stayed quiet for a moment, seeing who was going to speak first before deciding that it was going to be him. "Umm . . . Thank you for - uh - coming in there and-."

"Danny, what were you thinking?! You could've died!" Steve was shaking now with anger.

"I know, I know. But by the time I found the bomb, it was too late to get out. I just found as much cover as I could and hid." Danny said, hands flailing in the normal Danny Williams fashion.

"Danny, I thought you were dead! I thought . . ." Steve took a deep breath and the anger in his eyes broke, leaving something that was so much more vulnerable.

Suddenly, Danny saw what he should've seen before. The arms across the chest wasn't in anger. It looked almost like Steve was trying to hold himself together. When the anger in his eyes broke, so did his voice. The shaking had turned to fear and Danny could tell that his partner was trying so desperately to hide it. "Steve-." He was suddenly engulfed in a hug, Steve's arms wrapped tightly around him and he returned the hug, holding his trembling partner close. "I'm sorry, buddy."

"I thought you were dead, Danny. I thought I'd lost you." Steve said so quietly that if they hadn't been as close as they were, he wouldn't have heard it.

They stayed like that for a few more seconds before pulling apart, Danny's hand still on Steve's arm. "Hey, buddy. I'll just chalk this up to one more time that the great Danny Williams cheated death." Danny's smile was contagious and Steve found himself smiling, fear disappearing as he wrapped an arm around Danny's neck and shoulders, leading him over to the cousins who were more than happy to see him alive. _May it not be your last time, buddy._

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**HOW WAS IT! I hoped that everyone liked it! I will try and finish this story soon and update sooner than I did for this chapter. **

**Have a great rest of the weekend! Aloha! **


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